


Hey there little Alpha wolf, you sure aren't lookin' good

by Leafontehwind



Series: Are we all just stumbling along until we get this right? [5]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Curious Stiles is Curious, F/M, Gen, Hurt Derek, I swear, M/M, Slow Build, The feels will happen, The things he does for the pack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-21
Updated: 2012-10-21
Packaged: 2017-11-16 18:11:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/542356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leafontehwind/pseuds/Leafontehwind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or that one where Stiles was curious enough to go figure out what was wrong with Derek since the subject was way too tip-toed about for his liking.  And Stiles winds up doing something he may later regret.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hey there little Alpha wolf, you sure aren't lookin' good

**Author's Note:**

> I know this has taken a few days, especially with my penchant for posting quite frequently in the week that this series has been created. I promise it will definitely continue to be a weekly or multi-weekly update.
> 
> This chapter is setting up for feels and I almost waited to post it until I had the rest of this bit done but my lovely BFFL told me it was okay to break it up into two parts so there would be an update. I would like to let everyone know that this is going to mostly be character driven and the plot may wind up being secondary. Though, there is fake series plot that I will have going on in the background. Mostly I want to focus on the budding relationships. 
> 
> If you have any comments, please, feel free.
> 
> Sidenote: There will be a lot more Isaac in the future. I have a huge soft spot for him. :)
> 
> BUT HEY! There is a Derek in this bit.
> 
> Enjoy.
> 
> (And this is totally unbeta'd, so any glaring mistakes are completely my own. Possibly due to the fact that most of this was written prior to 5am. Apologies!!!)

Luckily enough, Stiles could always count on his dad’s job to keep him distracted a good percent of the time. Hell, it was probably most of the reason why he was able to run around so freely all of these years. It wasn’t that his dad didn’t notice, he was just too preoccupied at times to actually catch all of the signs before Stiles got himself tip toeing on the edge of. Or, you know, right smack dab in the middle of it.

Tonight, his father looked grim as he spoke about his day briefly over dinner, not offering a very detailed response of the crimes he was investigating. It wasn’t exactly new, his dad tended to not exactly talk about investigations unless necessary (or with the assistance of a little Jack Daniels), but usually it was a complete no go. Stiles tried not to act too interested but still took in every glimmer of information his dad leaked. It wasn't much but he never knew if this would have anything to do with the Alphas. So he decided not to push but would probably read over the files when his dad was asleep.

After having a healthy portion of the heart healthy pasta and red sauce (also heart healthy with a full serving of veggies in each suggested portion size) his dad left him to go over the files in the other room. Stiles made quick work of cleaning up the dishes and putting away the left overs he was probably going to snack on in the middle of the night, 'cause you know, teenagers.

He lingered in the living room for a minute, drumming his hand against the side of his thigh. Why was he suddenly nervous about confronting the alpha? It wasn't that he was scared, well he was always hyper aware about the possibility of getting hurt but that was more secondary.especially by now, And he could handle gore. Well, to an extent. He really didn't want to test his threshold all that much.

Screw it. Taking his phone out of his pocket, he punched out a text to Isaac.

From: Stiles  
Hey, you guys all at the warehouse?

He wasn't going for subtly but he figured if Isaac called him on it he could piece something together about one of his dad's cases. Even if he didn’t have a whole lot of information, he would still use it to his advantage if he had to. The werewolves had a habit of still being in the middle of pretty much 85% of the homicides in Beacon Hills. Probability was on his side.

His phone buzzed less than a minute later.

From: Isaac  
Just myself, Jackson and Lydia. Why?

From: Stiles  
Just curious. Was going to drop off Cursed if you wanted to give it a shot. I can just give you it tomorrow instead. No biggie

Okay. No information from his dad’s cases. So maybe he didnt want to break Isaac's mostly normal day. So sue him. He felt bad for the guy, plus he was pretty cool today. Plus, if Derek wasn’t there, it was kind of a moot point. Just worrying the beta wouldn’t do much good if it wasn’t something that he _actually_ had to worry about.

From: Isaac  
I’d like that. Thanks Stiles

Stiles nodded to himself with a smile, glad that he had possibly made a new friend rather than the whole acquaintance thing he had going on before with Isaac. Maybe he’d be able to get the little wolf out of his shell later, get to know him more. Stiles really wanted that. Isaac could use a friend that wasn’t loyal to him because of pack things.

Well... that left only about one other place that Derek could be. Which was the depressing wreck of the Hale house. And if something was up with Derek, wouldn't it be better if he was around his pack? If not for their protection but his? Or was it something that meant he couldn't be around his pack? Whoa. If that was what it was... No. He wasn't going to back down now. Stiles wasn't really pack or anything so, he should be fine. He's walked into worse situations. He'd deal.

"Scott forgot his calc homework upstairs," he said loud enough for his dad to hear him, tucking his phone in his back pocket. Stiles managed to keep his tone non-chalant. He always felt a little proud of himself when his voice didn't crack or give himself away in the slightest. Seriously, he should get an award. If there was an underground werewolf academy award system, he should get the best human supporter award. Totally. "He wanted me to double check it for him. You know, I'm not sure how he's going to get through college if I'm not there to hold his hand."

His dad half turned on the couch, glasses perched low on his nose as he looked over them at his son. Stiles always wondered if his dad knew he was bull-shitting him and just let it go. He hoped his dad thought that this was just normal teenager stuff and not him being a total tool and causing a huge issue for his dad and whatever investigation that was plaguing him at the moment. "Don't be out too late. And don't you dare wind up in the warehouse district. Too much bad is going on over there."

Stiles nodded, reading between the lines of how they both knew how much he wound up finding trouble, or trouble wound up finding him. "Will do. I promise." Which felt good because he was actually telling the truth this time.

He dashed upstairs grabbing a couple of old math papers from school that still happened to be on his desk, his keys and his red hoodie. Well, it was now or ever.

 

Stiles had to remind himself not to speed, to take the familiar road to the Hale house, knowing that if he got pulled over for even being five miles over the speed limit, his father would be called and, well, that was just another thing that he just didn’t need to happen right now. He could already imagine the look on his dad’s face , the lines that seemed to deepen around his eyes when something was wrong; when something was wrong that he seemed to be undoubtedly a part of.No, he couldn’t really let that happen. Not to his dad and not if he wanted to get any answers.

So, Stiles made sure to keep his speeding to the limit, trying to go for under the posted limit but failing with epic proportions. At the very least he managed to keep it moderately close, which he figured was good enough. So long as you were relatively close without going too much over or under, you passed for quote on quote “normal”. It was a fine science. 

It only took him about fifteen minutes before he was pulling up to the Hale house. Killing the engine, he could do nothing put pause for several minutes. The initial panic that should have hit him finally fell into place and he warred the debate of what in the actual hell he was doing. He had no way to protect himself if something else was out here or if there was something seriously wrong with Derek and he needed something to shock the wolf back to his senses. The small amount of wolfsbane was left in a chest under the floor boards in his closet with the extra jar of mountain ash that Deaton gave him a couple of weeks ago. He was wholly unprotected. Most people would turn their car back on and get the hell out of Dodge before something happened. Before it was too late. 

Maybe he wasn’t as smart as he claimed to be. Maybe he had some sort of death wish that he wasn’t entirely sure of. Sure, that could totally be a thing. Death wishes,curiosity and worry could all go hand in hand, right? Sure. At the very least, where he was concerned, it could. If nothing else, he could pretend he multi-tasked like a mofo.

Letting out a huff of air, Stiles removed the keys from the ignition and shoved them into his pocket before exiting the car. He knew that he was too far into it, to close to actually getting his answers to turn back. Steeling himself with what he claimed was manly resolve, he made his way to the front door of the decrepit Hale house and opened the door.

And, honestly, he expected more to this then what was transpiring. Maybe a growl as he entered the house, some inherent warning noise that would prove that what he was doing was totally the wrong route he should have taken. But, instead he was greeted with a stale and completely deafening silence. Immediately he wished he remembered to bring a flashlight, his all too human eyes not adjusting to the darkness as quickly as he would’ve liked. He swiftly pulled out his phone and turned on the flashlight app, it wasn’t as bright as the real thing but it would do wonders considering how freaking pitch black it was in the remains of the now crumbling house.

“Here Derek,” Stiles made a clicking noise with his tongue, eyes following the path lit up by his phone as he continued cautiously further into the house. “It’s just your neighborhood friendly human, aka Stiles, coming to check in on you.” Stiles’ heart was beating double time within his chest and he knew, without a doubt, that if Derek was here he would have heard that before he even spoke. 

He paused near what might have been the living room, eyeing the few grocery bags that were strewn across the floor. It was clear that he was here, who else would be squatting in this house knowing what was going on in Beacon Hills-- let alone knowing what had gone on in the past with the particular property. Stiles took a few steps closer to the bags, trying to peer inside of them to get some insight as to what the freaking hell was going on.

“Stiles,” A deep voice ground out behind him, forcing the teenager to jump a couple of feet in the air as he spun around, clutching a hand to his chest. Stiles held out his phone, shining the light on the werewolf which forced him to suck in an almost worried breath. Because, to put it bluntly? Derek looked like shit. He wasn’t sure if it was the light or the grim surroundings, but the alpha looked almost gray. His lips were chapped and cracked; he looked downright sickly. “You shouldn’t be here.”

It took Stiles a few tries, opening and shutting his mouth before he found his voice. “Dude, you look like hell. What... what in the freaking hell happened to you? And, really, why are you here? Shouldn’t you be with your pack? Relying on their strength or what the hell ever?” He was obviously perplexed, knowing that it seemed that Isaac and Scott were okay that Derek was here on his own when he looked so...when he looked like he was knocking on death’s door. He should be protected right now, not secluded. What if someone attacked when he was in this state and alone? Wouldn’t that be a boat load of bad for pretty much everyone? Especially if his psychotic douche of an uncle came sniffing around wanting to reclaim his alpha title. This would be prime time for him to take over, wasn’t that in and of itself reason enough to make sure that Derek was protected?

“I’m fine,” Was all the alpha said, one arm bracing his stomach as the other leaned against the wall for support. If anything wasn’t already really freaking obvious as hell, Stiles knew that Derek would have put on a brave front for show, no matter what. This meant that this was all he could manage, Stiles may not know all of the secrets that Derek was harboring, but he could read him from time to time. And this? This was bad. What was worse was that his wolves thought that he would be okay. What if he was just being brave to ensure them that it would be, not that he desperately needed help.

Stiles let out a scoff, rubbing his free hand over the back of his neck. “Right. Um... have you seen you? Pretty sure even the grim reaper’s got nothing on you. What the hell happened?” Stiles noticed Derek sway slightly and rushed over to put a hand to the arm that was still slung across his bare abdomen. His eyes slanted downwards, noticing the red angry flesh that was trying to heal were the alpha’s washboard abs had formerly been. His stomach seemed to be distended. And that was really, really disgusting.

“Did...” he started, after depositing his phone in his pocket and then resting his now free hand between Derek’s shoulder blades without thinking twice. “Was this because of the alphas? Oh...ohmygod. Did they... did they disembowel you?” Stiles had to fight back the wave of nausea. He was all for random and horribly staged gore for horror movies but not for the wolves that he knew; especially if even a day later they looked like this.

The answer he only got was a look before the alpha responded with actual words. “Yes.” And, really, he got the distinct feeling that the sourwolf in question was trying to perfect the art of killing people with a glare. Guess he figured when first you don’t succeed, try try try.... and continue trying until someone winds up dead. CSI could never prove his involvement. 

Stiles’ stomach sank with the new information. They actually... they didn’t just beat the crap out of him and then leave, they just decided to gut him and leave him there to slowly knit himself together? What... What assholes. “Ohmygod.But... why aren’t you healed yet? Shouldn’t you like... be completely healed by now? Whats the point in having supernatural healing abilities if you’re not able to be normal within the span of twenty-four hours or less? Not gonna lie to you, it’s kind of the basis of the whole, you know, wolf appeal.”

He had seen how easily they healed, how the werewolves could break something to jump start their healing process. But he hadn’t seen them look like this a day after a run in. Though, there was that time that Derek had been poisoned and needed his arm cut... Oh. No. Oh. Hell no. “Unless... oh...my...god. Wolfsbane? Inside you? How are you not dead? Did they not want you dead?”

Which, why wouldn’t they want him dead? Was this just some sort of lesson? That they could have killed him but decided not to? Was this something like mercy? A warning? Stiles got so caught up in his own musings on the topic that he didn’t catch the growl emanating from Derek until it rumbled loud enough to snap him out of his own thoughts. That and the wolf’s entire body was reverberating like the growl was something that was trying to be contained but barely could.

“Okay okay, sorry.” He loosened his grip on Derek’s arm and refrained from making placating gestures to appease the other man. Maybe less movement was better for the time being. Sure, Stiles might not always be a self-preservationalist in his own right, but right now that was at least half of what he was considering. Okay, maybe more a solid twenty-five percent of what he was thinking. “I guess this is verging on too many questions due to your serious case of the growlies.”

He waited until the wounded alpha was quietly breathing beside him and not at all giving off warning noises that he would so totally like to rip Stiles’ throat out with his teeth. “Listen, dude. You’re not safe here. You’re about to pass the hell out and what if someone with intent came up on in here and wanted to gank your werewolf ass? Who could help you out? As awesome as your little newly turned cubs are, they’re too far away to save you. What then?”

“I’ll be fine.” Derek tilted his head to the side and closed his eyes, breathing deeply through his nose. Everything seemed like an extreme effort. Like he couldn’t even manage to put on a decent show because it was something he was just incapable of at the moment. 

Stiles scoffed gesticulating with one hand in the wolf’s direction as he all but leaned against the wall. “Yeah, you seem fine. You seem like you’re all but two seconds away from face planting. And given the state of the floor, I wouldn’t suggest it. With our luck you’d wind up falling straight through and into the basement.” He shook his head.

There were only a few options at his disposal. He could go get his little jar of mountain ash and trap the alpha here while keeping any of the Alphas away from him. Or, he could take Derek back to his house to keep an eye on him. Neither plans were ideal. With the first, what if Stiles was busy and Derek was about to keel over and die. Well... then none of his pack could come through and help him out. Then it would be on his head. On the other hand, he had an complete summer free and the only hindrance would be keeping him from his dad. 

Well, it wouldn’t be the first time.

Stiles weighed the options in his head before deciding. At least he was consistently putting the pack he wasn’t actually a part of before his own needs. And even when he didn’t give a crap about Derek, he was pretty sure he would have done the same. 

“Alright,” He nodded and glanced over at the wolf beside him. “Here’s the thing. There’s absolutely no way I’m leaving you here alone. And unless you plan on ripping me apart in your weakened state, you’re coming back with me. No growling, no fighting. It’s that or I stay here with you in a barrier of mountain ash and I figure you’d like it better if there was running water and cable. Things to keep me occupied or else my ramblings will get worse. And if you were annoyed by me before? Imagine me without any distractions? C’mon, this is just for the best.”

Derek slid his eyes open and huffed out a breath but said nothing else. But, Stiles took that huff as an agreement. If he had anything to say that was the opposite, it would be in growl form or a very short sentence of a simple 'No.'

Good. Cool. Now he just had to get Derek into his jeep. Which, of course, was easier than said. It didn’t help that Derek was like fifteen gagillion tons of muscle. Him being one hundred percent human didn’t help matters, if only the alpha wasn’t dragging his feet every few steps, it wouldn’t have taken a good forty minutes to get out of the house and into the back seat of his car. Still, the managed it. Even with the cursing and occasional growls of annoyance, Derek wound up laying across the back seat of his car, arm still wrapped around his wounded midsection. Stiles stared at him for a long minute, frown tugging at the corners of his lips before gently shutting the door and running around to the driver’s side.

The real trick would be making sure his dad didn’t notice the squatter living in his room. At least Stiles liked the challenge.


End file.
